Eugene Peterson on the challenges of being a Christian in America

The deeper problem, Peterson said, is that two things that are basic to the Christian life run counter to the American ethos. First, the Christian life is not about us, but about God. It is not like giving ourselves a makeover. “We’re in on it, but we’re not the subject or the action,” Peterson said. Ever notice how in the Bible, we always come in after a preposition? God with us, in us, for us. In an individualistic, commercial culture, where the self is the center of everything, an autonomous agent of transformation, we have lost this grammar of shalomwhat Peterson called “prepositional participation.”

The second principle of the Christian life that runs against the grain of American culture, Peterson said, is that the ways and means must be appropriate to the ends. “We can’t participate in God’s work if we insist on doing it our own way.” He cited two examples of “doing the right thing the wrong way”: congregation and Scripture. We consider both to be our matters, not God’s. Instead of forming communities that embody self-denial, sacrifice, and patience for God to become present in them, we form “consumer churches,” using commercial methods to attract people and cater to their wants. And rather than reading Scripture as a way of “listening to God revealing God,” we treat it as information for us to process to become more successful and enlightened people. In both cases, the ways and meansbowing to the gods of salesmanship and efficiencyare out of sync with the endsforming a community of believers submitting to God’s work within them.

I just watched “Luther.” There were about twenty people in the theatre, me and nineteen Lutherans. I really enjoyed it. I’m not a huge church history buff, but I’ve had a class or two. The movie seemed to hit all the highlights, except Luther’s love of beer. I’m not sure why they didn’t emphasize this aspect of his life a bit more, but I know a few of my friends are going to be really disappointed that they didn’t.

From LA Times (free registration required)

Religion in the United States, he tells us, “has never existed in practice the way it is supposed to exist in theory.” Like everything else touched by American society, faith has been transformed under the pressure of our omnipresent culture, resulting in changes that have made our various faiths virtually unrecognizable. Theologians may (to use a Christian example) see Christ’s message as potentially transforming a culture, but Wolfe argues that in the United States, “culture has transformed Christ, as well as all other religions found within these shores. In every aspect of the religious life, American faith has met American culture and American culture has triumphed.”

In my class on the Kingdom of God we’re grappling with these six questions:

1. Is the Kingdom of God already present or has it not yet arrived?
2. Is the Kingdom of God an individual or social/communal enterprise?
3. Is the Kingdom of God spiritual or material? Is it concerned more with religion or politics?
4. Does the Kingdom of God come gradually or instantaneously?
5. Does the Kingdom come as a result of divine or human action?
6. What is the churchs relationship to the kingdom? Are they the same or different from one another?

We went out to lunch yesterday with some friends. Elijah screamed almost the whole time. Caleb, who is being potty trained, felt the urge to go just as the food arrived. Heather had already taken him once before. When I tried to take him into the men’s room he balked because earlier his mom had taken him into the women’s room and he thought that was the correct place to go. I had to pick him up and carry him into the men’s room as he kicked and screamed. After doing his business I failed to wash his hands EXACTLY the way his mom does. I carried him out of the bathroom just as I had carried him in. When I handed him over to his mom, she handed me Elijah who took his screaming to a higher decibel level. Of course by this time the food was cold and everyone in the restaurant was ready to vote us off of the island. When the check finally came, it was for almost forty bucks. I was tempted to stay there until the guy in the booth next to us offered to pay for it.

What’s sad about all this is that it’s not the first time it’s happened. We go through the same routine every time we eat out. After about seven days, we forget what it’s like and head back into the torture chamber. This time, when we got to the car I told Heather to sticka post-it note on the dash that said, “Don’t even think about eating out. Go to the dentist instead. Insurance will cover the bill and you’ll have more fun.”